


The Stranger Paths

by Verecunda



Category: Final Fantasy IX
Genre: Character Study, Class Differences, Developing Relationship, F/M, Missing Scene, gratuitous Shakespeare references
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-12
Updated: 2018-10-12
Packaged: 2019-07-29 22:09:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,587
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16273361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Verecunda/pseuds/Verecunda
Summary: Beyond the walls of Alexandria Castle, Garnet finds the world - and her kidnapper - more complicated than she had imagined.





	The Stranger Paths

**Author's Note:**

> Just a wee thing I had an urge to write, since me and my sister started a new game of FFIX. We know Zidane is pretty much smitten with Garnet at first sight, but what are Garnet’s feelings during the early part of their adventure?

It was strange, Garnet thought, that her feelings about her situation should be so contradictory. One one hand, she felt a lot like Rosalyn, the heroine of Lord Avon’s play _The Whole World is a Theatre Ship_ , full of worry for her father and banished from her home. But at the same time, she also felt like Maranda from _Now I Will Believe in Unicorns_ , full of wonder at discovering a whole wide world beyond the island where she grew up. Despite all the dangers she had faced since leaving the castle, her concern for her mother, and all her fears, she couldn’t help but feel a thrill of excitement. She was here, seeing the world beyond Alexandria, and she was doing it by herself.

Well, not completely by herself, of course. There were four of them, all thrown unexpectedly into this adventure together. As soon as she regained her strength after her ordeal in Evil Forest, they had set off south, looking for the cavern marked on the map that Zidane’s friend had given them. Garnet had never been below the Mist before, and she hadn’t realised just how difficult navigating in it was, for although they kept as much as possible to the line of the river, it was hard to make out landmarks, and they often found themselves wandering out of their way, which resulted in them having to double back and retrace their steps, something that caused Steiner deep vexation every time it happened.

“It’s all that oaf’s fault,” he fumed, as they watched Zidane frowning at the map and turning it around, then around again. “This is what we get for trusting our lives to a common pickpocket!”

“Hey!” said Zidane. “Any time you wanna take over map-reading duties, Rusty, be my guest!” At which Steiner’s face went very red, and he snapped his mouth shut, glowering. Garnet shared a glance with Vivi, who tugged embarrassedly at the brim of his hat, and they carried on with their journey.

A pickpocket he might be, but Zidane certainly seemed to be the one best suited to leading their little party. He was extremely resourceful, and he seemed to have all sorts of knowledge of the world. He was quite unlike anybody Garnet had ever met before. For one thing, he seemed to have no respect whatsoever for rank or title. After living all her life amidst the pomp and pageantry of the castle, it came as something of a surprise to her how he joked and bantered with everyone as if they were all old friends. It infuriated Steiner, but although Garnet found herself startled, even sometimes a little indignant, at his familiarity, she had to admit that she was beginning to quite like it. All her life, her title had set her apart, and so often she felt as if she were stuck up on a high pedestal, lonely and remote from everyone else. She had felt it even more over the last few years, as Mother had begun to act more and more strangely, and she’d found herself more and more alone, with no one to confide in.

But now, for the first time in her life, she wasn’t Princess Garnet til Alexandros, heir to the throne of Alexandria, with all the duties and worries that came with that title. Now, for the first time, she was simply Garnet, just turned sixteen and seeing the world for the first time, a valued part of their little team - not because she was a princess and _had_ to be valued, but because she was one of them, and brought her own skills to their journey. Zidane had his knives, Steiner had his sword, Vivi had his black magic, and she had… well, she had powers of her own, powers that ran so deep that even just the thought of them frightened her. But she also had her white magic, which was perfectly safe, and which definitely came in useful, as it did when Zidane got himself on the wrong side of a rampaging Mu.

“Whoa,” he said, looking down wide-eyed as the white light of her healing spell sank into his skin, flaring brightly before it faded, taking his scratches and bruises with it. “I’ve never seen one work so fast before!”

“Is it all right?” she asked, a little anxious. She’d studied the theory of white magic for years, but hadn’t had much chance to practise it until now. “How does it feel?”

“Feels great!” he said, still turning over his newly-healed arms to admire them. “Kinda tingly all over, but I guess that’ll pass.” Then, flashing her a cheeky grin, “Though maybe that’s ‘cause I’m sittin’ next to you, huh, Garnet?”

“Be serious,” she said, hoping she sounded sensible and dignified. But she looked away, quickly, before he could see the blush warming her face.

Despite what everyone seemed to think, she wasn’t hopelessly naïve. She knew all about flirtation. At royal balls, she must have danced with half the nobles’ sons of Alexandria and Treno put together, or sat with them at banquets, listening politely while they spent the evening trying to impress her, usually by talking about themselves for the whole evening. They were all quite dull in their self-importance, but somehow, with Zidane it was different. No matter how silly his repartee, she usually found herself feeling suddenly shy, her heart giving a strange flutter she had never felt before.

He probably flirts with every girl he sees, she told herself firmly. As soon as we reach a town or village, he’ll find some other girl to run after. It doesn’t mean anything.

But even as she thought that, she knew she was being unfair to him. Really, it would be only too easy to dismiss Zidane at first glance. He was cocky and irreverent; he was irrepressibly cheerful, despite all the dangers about them; he flirted shamelessly with her and he enjoyed winding up Steiner, regardless of station. When they sat around their little campfire at night, he told wild stories that must surely be at least half made-up, and made bad jokes - and the worse the joke, the more he enjoyed making it.

But it was becoming clear to her that there was more to her kidnapper than met the eye. She saw it in his unfailing kindness to Vivi, whenever the little black mage seemed uncertain and overwhelmed. She saw it in the way he encouraged them all, even Steiner, and the way he shared her enthusiasm at her new surroundings. And she saw it in other, more fleeting moments. When they had escaped from Evil Forest, she’d caught a glimpse of his grief at what had happened to his friend Blank, but whenever anyone had mentioned it since, he would just say, cheerfully, “There’s gotta be a way to cure him. It’ll be fine.” It seemed to her that Zidane worked hard to help everyone else with their worries, but kept his own very much to himself.

There was something else, too, something she was absolutely sure he had never meant anyone else to see. They set up camp as usual as night fell, pitching their tent and building their fire. After sharing out their supplies, Steiner took the first watch, standing staunchly to attention at the edge of the camp, while the rest of them relaxed. Tired from the long day, Vivi gradually dozed off beside Garnet, slumping gently against her shoulder, and she wrapped an arm around him to cuddle him close. He looked very sweet, a warm sleepy bundle, his eyes dimmed to faint yellow slits. She smiled fondly at him, then looked up at Zidane, expecting to see him smiling, too.

Instead, to her surprise, she found him looking up at the sky. High above, a gap had appeared in the drifting veils of Mist, and far beyond, it was just possible to make out the velvety dark of the night sky, and the light of a single star. Zidane was gazing up at this star, with a faraway, wistful look in his eyes that she had never seen before. It seemed to reach into her own heart and touch the secret place of loneliness there, conjuring up faint echoes of long-buried memories: a soft voice singing, a bright light in the sky, a boat tossed on a stormy sea…

Just then, he turned his head, caught her eye, and grinned, and the expression vanished from his face as if it had never been there at all - “no more yielding but a dream”, in the words of Lord Avon. With a guilty start, as though she had been caught spying on something, Garnet quickly smiled back, but she couldn’t shake off the memory of his expression, as if he had been searching for something out there in the distance. She wondered about it for the rest of the night, and even when she went to sleep, it seemed to follow her into her dreams.

What did it matter? she asked herself later. She liked Zidane, and she was grateful for his help, but they had only ended up together by chance, and sooner or later, they would have to go their separate ways. The only thing that she should be thinking of was how to get to Lindblum and help her mother. She was the princess of Alexandria, and she had a duty to protect her kingdom. Anything else was just a distraction.

She still had so far to go.


End file.
